Indonesia to Purchase 55 Refrigerators for Pfizer Vaccines

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government had decided to purchase 55 special refrigerators to store Pfizer vaccines. Budi said that the storage can have a temperature of up to minus 80 degrees Celsius and that it would be procured through UNICEF.

"In order to strengthen the cold chain distribution channel, the government has decided to buy 55 units of special refrigerators that can reach minus 80 degrees Celsius through UNICEF," said Budi Gunadi in a meeting with the House's Commission on Wednesday, August 25.

Budi said UNICEF has distributed billions of vaccines every year for children's vaccination programs around the globe. He also said that direct purchases through organizations under the United Nations were cheaper and faster.

According to Minister Budi, 55 units of special storage will later be distributed to 34 provinces in Indonesia. He said each provincial capital will be a vaccine storage hub.

The Health Minister previously said that Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccines could actually be distributed using the existing cold chain logistics route, as long as the vaccine stocks can be used up within six weeks.

Indonesia actually has a cold chain of minus 25 degrees Celsius up to the district/city level. But the plan to buy 55 freezers from UNICEF is aimed at strengthening the cold chain logistics route.

In addition, Budi said the government was also lobbying Covax/GAVI to obtain a grant of 17 ultra-cold chain units, which would arrive next week.

Read: Jakarta Kicks Off Pfizer Vaccine Rollout Today

Budiarti Utami Putri | Maudey K. Setyakusuma